Peaceful Weekend Getaway In Bucks County, Pennsylvania

If you’re looking for a small town getaway in a peaceful location, Bucks County, Pennsylvania is an ideal destination. Visitors come from nearby Philadelphia, New Jersey, Baltimore, DC and New York to escape the hustle and bustle of work life. Whether you’re taking a train ride or entertaining your kids with a trip to Sesame Place, Bucks County has activities that the whole family can enjoy.

Peaceful Weekend Getaway In Bucks County, Pennsylvania

After a short drive from a neighboring city, you can arrive in Bucks County and immediately take in the serene views of farmland. Nestled in between Shady Brook Farm and C. L. Prickett Antiques is a business center where the Hampton Inn & Suites is located. Since the hotel is also next to a Dunkin Donuts, you can even satisfy your sweet tooth upon your arrival.

Relaxing Stay At The Hampton Inn & Suites In Newtown

As you walk into the lobby of the Hampton Inn, you are greeted by exquisite decor. From the artistic lighting to the hard flooring, the lobby has a modern, family friendly vibe. You can easily access the complimentary breakfast buffet in a small nook by the lobby. Right outside the doors is a large pool and a private courtyard.

After arriving, we checked into our suite. I was happy the suite came with two double beds, a kitchenette, a work space, seating area, and dining area. When you’re traveling with kids who eat messily and you’re there on business, having separate spaces for eating, working, and sleeping is very helpful.

At the check in desk, we received our bag of complimentary tickets from the Visit Bucks County tourist bureau. Inside, there was also a treat for Georgiana, her very own Elmo (her favorite Sesame Street character)!

Equipped with a new souvenir and our swimsuits, we headed out for a day at Sesame Place for Labor Day weekend.

Visiting Elmo And Friends At Sesame Place

Located in Langhorne, Sesame Place is a convenient, fun attraction. Whether you want to visit the dry rides or the water rides, the park has plenty of activities for all guests. When you visit Bucks County, Sesame Place can easily be a half day activity. If you have other attractions to see or tired kids, five hours here is plenty. You can also visit all day to get the most from your experience, but you don’t need to drag the day out here because there’s plenty more to see in the area.

As I mentioned in 5 Tips For Visiting Sesame Place, Sesame Neighborhood is a fun place to visit first. While the kids wait to take photos with a character, you can take photos of them checking out the different stores and the firetruck.

We had an incredible time. Since the park is geared towards young kids, we made sure to include Georgiana in all of the rides. You can find plenty of rides more suitable for older kids too.

One fun stop was seeing Elmo the Musical – Live at Sesame Place! If you visit, you should arrive half an hour early to get seats. From interactive skits to bubbles flying through the air, the show is exciting for kids. This is also a nice place to cool off if it’s a hot day.

During your visit, Sesame Place is a simple way to make the kids happy. You can spend a few hours there to give your kids the awesome weekend they’re hoping for, then head on to discover the many other attractions that Bucks County offers.

Eating A Quick Bite At Green Parrot

After visiting Sesame Place, we worked up an appetite. For a quick meal, we stopped at Green Parrot in Newtown. Since we arrived early, we walked around the all-American small town. With tree-lined streets and unique shops, the area looked like a nice walking district.

Stepping into the Green Parrot, we were impressed with the friendly service, and we were happy to see that many families were dining there. One highlight of our meal was the Philly Egg Rolls. Since we were traveling so close to Philadelphia, we had wanted to try a Philly Cheese Steak at some point. The Philly Egg Rolls were a fun twist on a classic regional dish.

For dinner, I had the Parrot Crab Sauté, and for dessert I had the highly recommended Bread Pudding, which was enough to feel the whole family. We also ordered a delicious local ice cream. The restaurant also had a nice draft selection worth checking out if you visit.

Serene Views In New Hope

On the second day of our visit, we drove to New Hope, a picturesque town that many people traveled to for Labor Day weekend. Located on the banks of the Delaware River, New Hope offers many fun activities, including boat rides.

Whether you want to explore the area’s beautiful views or stroll through the town shopping for antiques and clothes, this small town is well worth stopping by during your visit.

The New Hope & Ivyland Railroad

When we arrived in New Hope, we stopped at the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad. Getting to the railroad first thing in the morning is smart because it is much less crowded earlier in the day. You can park your car next to the railroad and explore the city after riding the train.

At the train station, kids can play on the carousel and check out the gift shop before boarding. There are also easily accessible, clean restrooms.

￼￼Before boarding, we were excited to go live on my Facebook page to share some details of our visit. You can check out the video below, which shows the girls riding the carousel as I check out the coach car and the open air car.

Even though I was eager to visit the breezy open air car, we decided to start our voyage in the first class Parlor car. When you visit the first class car, you get a complimentary drink for each guest. This is the only car on the train that is air conditioned. The first class car also has lighting, comfortable seating, and nice decor.

We were very happy that mid-way through our voyage, the train photographer came up to us and gave us a family photo he had taken of us with the train conductor. Then, we were led to the open air car to see a new perspective.

One of the special things about the open air car is that children are allowed to stand at the very back of the train, which becomes the front of the train, as the train reverses back to its station. This made for a very unique, memorable experience. As we sped by rivers and through the woods, I loved that my kids would be able to cherish the fun memory of riding a train.

Riding the train at the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad was a once in a lifetime experience. Whether your kids love playing with train toys or you dream of riding a train through Europe, visiting this train station is highly recommended during your visit to Bucks County.

Incredible Dining At Marsha Brown Restaurant

After riding the train, walk down the street to discover shops and restaurants unique to the New Hope area. Although there are many dining options in the area, the Marsha Brown Restaurant offers an experience that is quite unlike what you can find at other restaurants. The Marsha Brown Restaurant is located in a renovated, 125 year old stone church with 40 foot ceilings.

Inside, dine on the second floor to discover an incredible 30-foot mural. After sitting down, my daughter gasped at how beautiful the dining area was and exclaimed, “This is a really nice restaurant mom! It’s nicer than the places we usually go!”

On the second floor, you also get a clear view of the incredible stained glass windows. As you dine, you can easily imagine how beautiful this location was as a church. With such an immaculate setting, the restaurant is very serene for a family meal.

In addition to having a beautiful dining area, the Marsha Brown Restaurant also offers incredible creole food. I joked with my kids that the food brought me back to me Louisiana roots (even though I moved out of Louisiana before I could eat solid food), but really, the food was spectacular.

After trying the Real Gumbo Yaya soup as an appetizer, I decided on the Jambalaya for my lunch. With a delicious mixture of ingredients and a balance of spices, the Jambalaya was perfect. I would visit New Hope again just to order it.

Ryan ordered the Crispy Catfish Po Boy. I had a few bites, and I loved it! The fries came lightly seasoned, but we were able to order some without seasoning for the kids.

Eating the last meal of our weekend excursion at Marsha Brown Restaurant was incredible. With an authentic creole taste, the food was delicious. Being able to enjoy the food in such a beautiful surrounding was a very special experience.

Dessert At Moo Hope

Right across the street from Marsha Brown Restaurant is an ice cream shop called Moo Hope. With bright fun decor, Moo Hope offers a nice selection of ice cream. My daughters each ordered a refreshing scoop of mint ice cream. On a hot day, this was the perfect treat to have before heading home.

From the streets of New Hope to the rides at Sesame Place, Bucks County had something to offer the entire family. Even though we were only in Bucks for two days, we enjoyed many fun activities. Taking a weekend getaway was a refreshing way to enjoy one last summer weekend.

For more travel tips, check out the Travel section on Theresa’s Reviews. You can also get updates via social media if you follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and Pinterest.

About The Author

Theresa has been writing since 2010 in magazines and online. Her lifestyle and parenting expertise has been featured in publications, including ShopSmart and Scholastic. She earned an M.Ed in Elementary Education from Vanderbilt as well as a BA in History from Flagler College, and she is a certified teacher.

Thanks for sharing your family holiday pics & meals with us. I’ve never heard of any of these places, but then the US is a big ole place. I’m based in the UK right now so don’t tend to get back to North America very often, and so I enjoyed your little visual tour of your holiday.

I really enjoyed the virtual tour and the photos helped a lot 🙂 It seems you had a lovely weekend with your family. I can see the girls had a wonderful time there. It’s great that you’re spending quality time with each other!

Looks like such a lovely trip! The girls look adorable on the train together and what a great photo of them with their hair blowing in the breeze like that 🙂 Looks like a good assortment of things to do for everyone and those philly egg rolls I would definitely try!

This sounds like the perfect family getaway, as it is close enough to drive to from many major cities. Love how many interesting and fun things there are to do for the whole family. Your girls look like they enjoyed all the activities and it sounds like you and your husband did too! Thanks for sharing the highlights of your time in Bucks County.

This looked like such a blast! Sadly this year we weren’t able to go anywhere really as our oldest started college and my husband started a new job, but I will bookmark this for further reference. Thanks for sharing.

My husband was born and raised in Forty Fort and then moved to Pottstown as an adult. He said that Bucks County was a place he, his father and brother used to visit when they were growing up. Nice place and good food!

The rail with the classic train definitely caught my attention. I would love to do that! I’m coming from a family with a tradition of working with the rail company so I’ve got to ride a lot of fancy old steam trains when I was little.

My mom lives in Bensalem and we never really go anywhere! Bucks County has a lot to offer and I need to start exploring, especially New Hope. Do you think Sesame Place is good for an 18 month old? He’ll be older next year so I think he may enjoy it more once he’s 2.

What a fun family trip! Sesame Place looks like a an activity that my boys would enjoy. We haven’t done much in PA besides a visit to Pittsburgh and driving through it to get to VA, but I would love to go back and spend more time in the state.

What a great little getaway! I don’t live far from there so we could totally do this in a weekend. And I have heard GREAT things about Sesame Street Place so that will be a must stop place to go for the kids.

I love to have some new ideas about places in the US, despite all the famous cities like NYC or LA. This review definitely gives valuable information about Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Surely, this is a great reference for the future

There’s something charming and peaceful about the place. It’s little corners like Bucks County that I’d love to visit in the U.S (I’m South African). The last time I was there we spent time in a small town called Geneva, in Chicago. Quite charming too!!

I loved following along on your weekend getaway! It seemed like there was something for everyone to enjoy and that you all had a great weekend! I think visiting New Hope & Ivyland Railroad would be my favorite.

Love that Crispy Catfish Po Boy you got! Looks delish. I don’t get to southern states very often and that is a dish that the northerners just haven’t figured out in most places. I like to get the chicken version if I see it on the menu.

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I’m a certified teacher and mother who writes a blog instead of finishing my to-do list. I have two daughters, ages 7 and 10. Sometimes they wonder why Mom’s blogging hobby involves them when I turn our daily lives into a homeschooling adventure — especially because they attend a traditional school too — but lifelong learning is a way of life that brings hands-on experiences, delightful celebrations, and fond memories! Read more here.